Category Archives: US News

Bernie Sanders denounces Russia’s reported efforts to aid his campaign – live

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Frontrunner condemns interference and says: ‘Unlike Trump, I do not consider Vladimir Putin a good friend. He is an autocratic thug’

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US officials told Bernie Sanders that the Russian government is working to help him secure the Democratic nomination, the Washington Post reported Friday.

And new reports are emerging that Sanders knew a month ago about the interference. Asked why the news is only coming out now, Sanders pointed to the Nevada caucuses and suggested media was to blame.

Sanders tells reporters he learned about Russian interference in his campaign about a month ago.

But asked why it came out now, Sanders points to the fact that the NV caucuses are a day away. And adds sarcastically, "Washington Post? Good friends."

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Mario Koran, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

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Gloria Allred admits sending bus asking Prince Andrew to talk to FBI about Epstein – video

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US lawyer Gloria Allred, who is representing several of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers has admitted arranging an American-style school bus to drive through different parts of London, including past Buckingham Palace, with a message on the side asking Prince Andrew to speak with the FBI.

Andrew has so far failed to respond to FBI approaches in the ongoing investigation into Epstein and his abuse of underaged girls

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JP Morgan economists warn climate crisis is threat to human race

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Leaked report for world’s major fossil fuel financier says Earth is on unsustainable trajectory

The world’s largest financier of fossil fuels has warned clients that the climate crisis threatens the survival of humanity and that the planet is on an unsustainable trajectory, according to a leaked document.

The JP Morgan report on the economic risks of human-caused global heating said climate policy had to change or else the world faced irreversible consequences.

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School bus stunt urges Prince Andrew to talk to FBI about Jeffrey Epstein

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US lawyer Gloria Allred arranged for bus to be driven past Buckingham Palace with message for prince

An American-style school bus has driven past Buckingham Palace with a message on the side appealing for Prince Andrew to answer questions from the FBI about his links to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The stunt was arranged by the US lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents some of Epstein’s victims.

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US and Taliban to sign deal paving way for troop pullout and peace talks

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A seven-day ‘reduction of violence’ deal will begin on Friday night, Mike Pompeo said, leading to signing of a peace agreement

The US and Taliban are due to sign an agreement on 29 February that will lead to the withdrawal of thousands of US troops and the start of comprehensive peace talks between the Afghan government and the insurgents.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, announced that the agreement would be signed once there has been a week-long “nationwide reduction in violence”, to start at midnight on Friday, according to an understanding reached by US and Taliban negotiators meeting in Doha.

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Roger Stone is a friend of Trump – does that mean he’s above the law?

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Stone, sentenced to 40 months for lying to Congress, is an ally of the president – and in the US in 2020 that carries a lot of weight

Any other convict, in Roger Stone’s place, might find cause for despair.

Sentenced by Judge Amy Berman Jackson to 40 months in federal prison on Thursday, Stone, 67, the piratical politico, was also on the receiving end of a stern rebuke for making threatening social media posts during the trial and for generally acting as if the rules did not apply to him.

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Hanau attack part of pattern of white supremacist violence flowing from US

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Experts in global extremism say gunman’s comments on his website paralleled several recent conspiracies popular with American far-right

The mass shootings targeting two bars in the German town of Hanau appear to be the latest in a series of global attacks motivated by white nationalist ideology, experts said.

The 43-year-old German man identified by authorities as the gunman also appeared to be obsessed with America, and with American conspiracy theories, according to online video and documents German police are investigating in connection with the attack.

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How the American dream died on the world’s busiest border

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It is a place where worlds converge, a vast melting pot of different peoples, all in search of a better life. Yet the US-Mexico border is also, increasingly, a focal point for human suffering

Milson, from Honduras, sits with his 14-year-old daughter, Loany, on the reedy riverbank beside the bridge connecting Matamoros, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, with downtown Brownsville, Texas, across the Rio Grande.

On the far reach – a few yards but another world away – is a vast tent (officially a “soft-sided facility”) erected to cope with the sheer numbers seeking asylum in the US. In a few weeks’ time, on the date stipulated on their “notice to appear” document, the people staying here will have their “credible fear interview” by video link.

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Trump jabs at Parasite’s Oscar win because film is ‘from South Korea’

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President says US has trade problems with South Korea and wonders if ‘we can get Gone With the Wind back’

Donald Trump has taken a jab at the Oscars for awarding this year’s best picture honor to Parasite, because the film is South Korean.

“How bad were the Academy Awards this year?” Trump asked a rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The crowd responded with loud boos.

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House members reportedly told Russia is working to get Trump re-elected – as it happened

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  • President ‘berated’ intelligence chief over briefing – New York Times
  • Roger Stone asks for Trump pardon after 40-month sentence
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It was another evening of late-breaking news. Here’s a summary as our live politics coverage ends for the night:

Elizabeth Warren is not done with her demans that Michael Bloomberg, billionaire former New York mayor and late entrant into the 2020 Democratic primary, release former employees who have brought lawsuits against Bloomberg and his company from their nondisclosure agreements.

The goal, Warren has said: allowing women to talk candidly about the behavior that prompted the lawsuits, and ensuring transparency in the primary.

Elizabeth Warren opens her CNN town hall by saying she brought something with her -- a contract she wrote up that she says would release former Bloomberg employees from NDAs.

"I used to teach contract law... All he has to do is sign it. I’ll text it."

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US intelligence warned House members Russia is working to get Trump re-elected – reports

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Briefing to members of Congress is said to have led to abrupt removal of acting director of national intelligence

US intelligence officials are reported to have warned members of Congress last week that Russia was trying to interfere in the 2020 election campaign in favour of Donald Trump, in a briefing that led to the abrupt removal of the acting director of national intelligence.

When Trump heard about the briefing, he railed at the acting DNI, Joseph Maguire, in the Oval Office, over what the president saw as disloyalty, the Washington Post reported. Until then, Maguire had been a leading candidate to become permanent DNI and is understood to have told colleagues he expected to stay on in the position.

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Roger Stone has ‘very good chance of exoneration’, says Trump – video

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Donald Trump said his longtime ally Roger Stone had a ‘very good chance of exoneration’, addressing the case for the first time since his former associate was sentenced at a Las Vegas event on Thursday 20 February. Trump also said the jury foreman in Stone’s case was ‘totally tainted’ and an an ‘anti-Trump activist’. After he issued a series of commutations and pardons earlier this week, speculation that Trump will pardon Stone has intensified

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Debate shows Bernie Sanders could win most votes but be denied nomination

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The Vermont senator was alone in saying he would back whoever won a plurality of delegates – with others open to superdelegates tipping the balance for another candidate at the convention

Amid the Mike Bloomberg pile-on and the Pete Buttigieg-Amy Klobuchar squabbling, there was a key point that slipped by almost unnoticed during Wednesday’s tumultuous Democratic debate – one that could potentially prevent Bernie Sanders from becoming the nominee.

Towards the end, each of the six candidates was asked if – at the Democratic national convention this summer in Milwaukee – they would support the person who has won the most delegates – even if that person hasn’t achieved a majority.

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Democratic rivals attack Bloomberg in punishing debate debut – video

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Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg fiercely attacked Mike Bloomberg on his first Democratic debate appearance.

Senator Warren led the assault, challenging the former New York mayor to release women at his company from non-disclosure agreements they signed while settling lawsuits. Bloomberg defended his record, saying: 'In my company, lots and lots of women have big responsibilities.'

Here are the key clashes from the ninth Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas

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John Bolton rebuked for withholding Trump testimony in new public event

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  • Ex-national security adviser criticized by Obama official
  • ‘I would feel like I was shamefully violating the oath I took’

Former national security adviser John Bolton faced a roasting from one of his predecessors on Wednesday night, in his second public appearance since the conclusion of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

Related: Democratic debate: Warren brands Bloomberg 'a billionaire who calls people fat broads' – live

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Bloomberg roundly attacked by rivals in fiercest Democratic debate so far

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  • Billionaire’s record on policing and discrimination condemned
  • Centrists Buttigieg and Klobuchar rip into each other
  • Warren gives spirited display and likens Bloomberg to Trump

The top six Democratic presidential candidates faced off in Las Vegas on Wednesday in the most combative debate of the election and days before the high-stakes caucuses in Nevada.

It was the first debate for Mike Bloomberg, and the former New York mayor’s rivals in the Democratic race for president immediately took aim – attacking him for his legacy on racist policing and reports of sexist comments and discrimination at his companies.

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Roger Stone’s sentencing to move ahead after judge refuses new trial request

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  • Trump ally guilty on seven counts, including lying to Congress
  • President claims conviction ‘should be thrown out’

Roger Stone, a longtime ally of Donald Trump and a self-described political dirty trickster, is set to be sentenced on Thursday for his attempts to sabotage a congressional investigation that posed a political threat to the president.

The sentencing will go ahead despite an 11th-hour request by Stone’s defense team for a new trial following Trump’s claim that the conviction “should be thrown out”.

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Democratic debate: Warren attacks Bloomberg over non-disclosure agreements – video

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Mike Bloomberg has come under attack in Las Vegas from his Democratic rivals after taking part in his first debate. The former New York mayor was criticised for the city's stop-and-frisk policy, his wealth and the non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) several women at his company have signed while settling lawsuits. Elizabeth Warren repeatedly urged him to disclose how many NDAs women had signed and to let the women speak freely. Bloomberg refused to answer her direct questions, leading to boos from the crowd. “I hope you heard what his defence was: ‘I’ve been nice to some women,” Warren said


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Personal details of 10.6m MGM hotel guests revealed by hackers, report says

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  • Justin Bieber and Jack Dorsey among those targeted by hack
  • MGM confident no financial or password data breached

Personal details of more than 10.6 million former guests of MGM Resorts hotels, including Justin Bieber and Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey, were posted on an online hacking forum this week, according to a new report.

Related: Julian Assange: Australian MPs call on UK to block US extradition

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